Operating and locking means for sliding car doors and the like



April 23, 1935. A. CAMPBELL 1,998,503

OPERATING AND LOCKING MEANS FOR SLIDING CAR DOORS AND THE LIKE FiledJune 23, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I INVENTOR. H6 3. ARGV AMPBLFL ATTORNEY.

April 23, 1935. A, CAMIQBELL 1,998,608

OPERATING AND LOCKING MEANS FOR SLIDING CAR DOORS AND THE LIKE FiledJune 25, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l INVENTOR. 6 3 AEG'Y E CQNPBELLATTORNEY.

Patented Apr. 23, 1935 UNITED sra'rss OPERATING AND LOCKING IVIEANS FORSLIDING CAR DDORS AND THE LIKE Argyle Campbell, Chicago, 111.;assignorto Enterprise Railway Equipment Company, Chicago,

111., a corporation of Illinois Application June 23, 1933, Serial No.677,229

4 Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in operating and locking means forsliding car doors and. the like.

An object of my invention is to provide co- 5 operating members on asliding door and car structure such as willpermit of the operation of asliding door by meansoi a horizontally disposed removable bar in amanner as to permit of great leverage'being exerted for initiating theopening movement of the'door or for prying the door to fully closedposition. I

Another object of myinvention is to so modify the usual securing haspemployed in connection with car doors so as to cooperate with aremovable bar and fixed abutment on the car structure to move the door.

A more specificobject of my invention is to combine in one mechanism theusual door hasp with a door starter and opener in such a manner as todispose the prying "portions in alignment with the hasp andsealing'means; In house cars and the like having a sliding door it isusual to provide a hasp on the door in combination with keeper means onthe car structure for retaining the door in closed position and it isalsothe practice to provide independent of the said hasp a door starterand opener for moving the door to either open or closed position. Thehasp and door starter are usually separated from each other verticallyand, due to the intervening'space, it is oftentimes difiicult to bringthe hasp into engagement with the keeper, and I overcome such difiicultyby making provision for prying the doors at a location in alignment withthe hasp.

The combining of the sealing and operating means in one'mechanism alsois conducive to a reduction in weight and makes for economy. I

For further comprehension of my invention reference is made to theaccompanying drawings,

wherein: v

Fig. 1 is a side elevational View of. a part of car side and door havingmy improvements applied thereto; I

Fig. 2 is a sectional plan View on an enlarged scale of a portion ofFig. ltaken on a line 2-'2 of said Fig. 1; and I I Fig. 3 illustrates onan enlarged scale a vertical elevational View of the hasp and mountingtherefor, as illustrated in Fig. 2. g Y

My improvements are shown as applied to a box or house car having asliding door mounted on' anti-friction rollers adjacent the bottom ofthe door.

In the drawings it indicates the body of the car including side walls H,side sills l2, front door post ,l3,.said door posts being providedadjacent the front marginal edge of the door with a sealing member M.The door A is shown as including a main body plate 55 and provided atthe lower part thereof with roller brackets it having 5 rollers ll.mounted upon a track IS, the latter being supported at the bottom of thedoor opening. The door A adjacent its front margin is provided with afront marginal reinforcing member I9 preferably formed of Z-shape havingweb 10 26 extending transversely of the door. The respective'fiangesindicated at 2i and 22 are respectivelydisposed in'the inner, and outerplane of the door. The inner flange 25 is adapted to extend within andregister with ,the sealing memher 14, and the outer flange 22 isdisposed in overlying relation with and secured to the body plate I5of/the door.

My improved construction includes a bracket B disposed onthe carstructure beyond the front edge of the door, and a hasp-like member Cpivotally mounted on the door on a bracket D. The hasp member extendsinto cooperating relation with the bracket D and is lockedrelatively'thereto by a sliding retainer member E. The bracket member Bis provided with a base portion 23 riveted or otherwise secured to thecar structure. In the case of double doors being employed it will beunderstood that suchmember B would be mounted on one of the doorsinstead of on the carstructure. Outstandingfrom the base portion 23 is abody portion 24 which is formed at its outer end with upper andlowerelongated vertical extending portions 25 and 25 respectively.

The said portionsare spaced from each other vertically an appreciabledistance to provide a recess 27 intermediate said projections, and saidportions-25-and 26 have a'vertically extending T-shape slot-28 formedtherein. The body portion 24 is spaced lengthwise an appreciabledistance from the outer, edge of the door, and intermediate the saidbody portion and door there is disposed an integral bracket portion 29which extends lengthwise of the car in alignment with the recess 21;said bracket portion 29 is provided with two pockets 30-30, said pocketsbeing spaced from each other in the direction of movement of the doorand-preferably disposed in the same horizontal plane. Rearwardly' 'ofthe 'pockets there is an integral bracket portion 3| adapted to bracethe said portion 29 relatively of the portion 24.

The hasp-like member C is of an elongated form and is pivotally mountedat one end on a pivot 32, the latter being carried by the bracket D.

The hasp is adapted to be extended lengthwise of the door into overlyingrelation with respect to the pockets 3!], and the end 33 of the haspopposite to the pivot is shaped to fit within the recess 21 of bracketB; said portion 33 is formed with a T-shaped vertical slot 34corresponding in shape to the shape of slot 28. and 34 are adapted whenthe parts are in operative relation to register in order to have theretaining member E extended through the slots of both members, the saidretainer being likewise formed of corresponding shape.

Intermediate its pivotal mounting and the end 33, the member C is formedwith two openings 3535, said openings being located in substantially thesame horizontal plane as the pockets 39. The openings 35 are flared inopposite directions as indicated at 36 and the opening through which thepivot 32 extends is likewise flared as indicated at 3?, the latter beingfor the purpose of providing a loose connection to allow the member C tohave lateral movement and swing outwardly as well as in a plane parallelto the plane of movement of the door. The bracket member D is providedwith a base portion 38 riveted or otherwise secured to the doorstructure, and outstanding from said base portion are walls 39 and 48which cooperate with an outer wall 4| to form a housing in which thepivotal end of member B is extended and confined, said respective walls39 and M providing a support for the pin 32.

That portion of the retainer E which is slidably mounted in the member Bis provided with a slotted opening. 42 through which a rivet 43 extendsto maintain the parts in assembled relation. The lower portion of theretainer is provided with an opening 44 adapted to register with 2.correspondingly formed opening on the member B, for the accommodation ofa car seal.

The operation of the device is as follows:

Assuming the hasp to be in operative locked position as indicated inFig. 2, to open the door the operator first efiects disengagementbetween the retainer E and the hasp Band the latter is then swungoutwardly to the position indicated by conventional dotted lines. Aremovable bar F is then inserted through one of the openings 35 and intoone of the pockets 30, the extreme end of the bar being confined by thepocket 30 to provide a fulcrum for the bar. Pressure is then exerted onthe opposite end of the bar in a direction to open the door. During theturning movement of the bar the loose pivotal mounting of the haspallows a certain amount of lateral movement of the hasp, and the flaredopenings 36 in turn compensate for relative movement between the haspand bar brought about by the movement of the door. Should an extendedmovement of the door be desired, the end of the bar is moved into thenext successive pocket.

The closing of the door is a'reverse operation to the above described.The operator engages one of the pockets with the end of the bar and iffurther movement is desired the end of the bar is transferred to theadjacent pocket and closure of the door effected. With the door in openposition, the hasp swings downwardly in a plane parallel to the plane ofthe door and assumes the position as indicated by the dotted lines inFig. 1, in which position it is out of the path of the dischargeopening. 7

The respective slots 28' I claim:

1. In a railway car, the combination with adjacent door members, one ofwhich is slidably mounted relatively to the other; of a keeper carriedby one of said members, a hasp carried by the other of said members;said hasp when in operative relation extending beyond the edge of thedoor for cooperation with the keeper for retaining the door in closedposition; and cooperating abutment means on the hasp and keeper adaptedto receive an end of a removable bar for moving the door by a movementof the bar, said respective abutment means being disposed in alignmentand in overlying relation to each other to permit of operation with thebar in a substantially horizontal plane.

2. In a railway car, the combination with adjacent door members, one ofwhich is slidably mounted relatively to the other; of a hasp memberpivotally mounted on the slidable door member for universal movement; ahasp keeper mounted on the other door member and having a socket portionadapted to accommodate the outer end of the hasp; a retainer slidablymounted on the keeper and adapted to engage with the hasp to retain thelatter in fixed relation to the keeper, said keeper being spacedlengthwise from the end of the door, said keeper and hasp intermediatethe retainer and the door member being provided with cooperatingabutments adapted to receive the end of a removable bar for moving theslidable door member by a movement of the bar.

3. In a railway car, the combination with adjacent door members, one ofwhich is slidably mounted relatively to the other; of a hasp keepermounted on one of said door members and including a bracket having apair of outstanding lugs extending outwardlytherefrom and spaced fromeach other vertically; a reciprccable retainer mounted in the said lugs;a hasp carried by the other of said door members, said hasp beingpivotally mounted with respect to its associated door member and havingan elongated body portion adapted to be positioned between the lugs ofthe keeper, said hasp being provided with a vertical extending openingthrough which the hasp retainer is adapted to extend for locking thedoor members in fixed relation to each other; and an abutment means onthe hasp and keeper respectively, adapted to receive a removable bar formoving the door by means of the bar.

4. Ina railway car, the combination with adjacent door members, one ofwhich is slidably mounted relatively to the other; of means forinducing. relative movement between said members and locking saidmembers in fixed relation to each other, said means including abutmentscarried by the respective door members, one of said abutments beingcarried by one of the door members and presenting an open-ended pocketadapted to receive one end of a movable bar, and the other of saidabutments presenting a pocket disposed in substantial alignment of theopening, said respective pockets and opening being adapted toaccommodate a removable actuating tool positioned to swing, in a planesubstantially at right angle to the plane of movement of the doormember; and sealing means cooperating with the said members for lockingthe door and the associated car members in fixed relation to each other.

ARGYLE CAMPBELL.

